wordful wednesday

"Literally unimaginable things could happen to you out there.  I heard of a man who had stepped from his tent for a midnight pee and was swooped upon by a short-sighted hoot owl -- the last he saw of his scalp it was dangling from talons prettily silhouetted against a harvest moon -- and of a young woman who was woken by a tickle across her belly and peered into her sleeping bag to find a copperhead bunking down in the warmth between her legs.  I heard four separate stories (always related with a chuckle) of campers and bears sharing tents for a few confused and lively moments; stories of people abruptly vaporized ('tweren't nothing left of him but a scorch mark') by body-sized bolts of lightning when caught in sudden storms on high ridgelines; of tents crushed beneath falling trees, or eased off precipices on ballbearings of beaded rain and sent paragliding on to distant valley floors, or swept away by the watery wall of a flash flood; of hikers beyond counting whose last experience was of trembling earth and the befuddled thought 'Now what the ---?'"

~  Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods:  Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

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I've seen bloggers sometimes reserve Wednesday for "Wordless Wednesday," when they feature an image with no caption or explanation or context.  I considered doing the same, but as I was processing the image for this post, I realized that what I really wanted to do was "Wordful Wednesday."  I really enjoy reading, but don't do it nearly as much as I'd like.  So, to help spur me into action, I thought I'd use Wednesdays to feature passages from books that I've enjoyed either in the past or am currently reading.  There'll be an image too, but the main purpose would be to share some awesome books that have crossed my path. 

And, of course, if you have any recommendations, I'm happy to read them!

(Also:  The Chookooloonks Path Finder is filling up, a fact about which I'm really thrilled.  I hope you'll join us -- it's going to be a great way to wind down the year.)

Images:  Shot with my new Olympus E-PM1 camera, given to me by Olympus as part of their PEN Ready Project (I'm #874).

Song:  Crash into me by Dave Matthews Band